Aucune Vue
by AlidaHush
Summary: Post Damage. Pre You're Welcome. In a city filled with enemies, it is sometimes best to count at least one friend. Especially if you suddenly find yourself in the dark...
1. Aucune Aide

Chapter One

_'Aucune Aide'_

Maach stood with his hands in his jacket pockets, waiting for the sounds of fighting to subside. When it sounded like the scuffle had died down, he cautiously opened the back door of the pub and stuck his head inside. After a moment of glancing around, he saw Spike at the other end of the bar in full game face, starring down a larger demon who was holding a broken bottle in his hand. Spike looked more pissed off than angry.

"It's come to our attention Spike, that you've been battling it out with the demon community as of late. The boys say you're in league with the Wolf, Ram and Hart," the large demon grunted between sharpened teeth. He squeezed the neck of a bottle a little tighter and nodded to someone across the bar. Spike snarled as he sensed that someone step forward.

"Haven't the foggiest what you mean, mate." Spike said quietly, voice clenched between a mouth of fangs. The big demon laughed, lifting the bottle.

"Bad bit of business they run," he said, stepping forward. He let the bottle drop to his side and allowed his fingers to loosen. Spike didn't move as the larger man stepped forward. It was clear he wasn't going to give up any ground if he could help it. "Even we don't tangle with them."

"This little sermon got a point?" Spike asked, impatiently, flashing a bit of fang as the larger man puffed out his chest.

"Moral of the story," he snarled, reaching out and grabbing Spike by the scruff of the neck. Spike squirmed and snarled, trying to get purchase at the back of his neck. But the larger demon didn't give him half a chance. He reached back and slammed a fist into Spike's nose, smiling at the satisfying crunch it made.

Spike dropped like a stone.

"Next time, that wont be the only thing I break." the demon vowed, stepping over Spike's crumpled form and joining his other burly demon friends. He gave one last glance at the body on the floor before motioning toward the door.

When the last of the demons appeared to have scattered, Macch left his hiding place at the back door and quickly scrambled to kneel next to Spike. He used gentle hands to turn his friend over and examine the damage. Spike eyed him through a pool of blood and bruising. After a moment, Maach examined his friend's nose. It appeared to be in a few pieces.

"Shall I fix this here, or wait until we are back at your home?" he asked, gently touching the break at the bridge of Spike's nose. Spike sighed slightly and wiped his fingers across his left eye, clearing away the sticky mess there. Macch waited for him to sit up slightly before he expected an answer.

"Give us a hand." he said quietly, avoiding the question directly. Maach quickly stood and took Spike's hand in his own, helping him stand unsteadily on his feet. Once the room stopped spinning, Spike shook his head a little to clear the fog and nodded at his friend. Maach slipped an arm around Spike's back and aimed him toward the back door.

"Sometimes you do not realize that you have crossed a line." Maach said, glancing at Spike. He was smirking slightly, even through a mask of blood.

"Course I know when I've crossed a line," he chuckled, toeing the door open and stumbling into the alley. "Just not very good at stopping once I'm over it."

_Continued..._


	2. Aucune Fierté

Chapter Two

_'Aucune Fierté'_

"Are you in need of assistance?" Maach asked as he closed the apartment door behind him and released his hold on Spike. The vampire sighed and collapsed onto the couch, waving his hand in a noncommitul gesture. After a moment of silence, Macch shook his head and opened the door again, preparing to leave. He knew when Spike wanted to be left alone. He also knew that the more help he offered, the more Spike would refuse it. _Vampires have too much pride._ Maach thought to himself as he stepped over the threshold. He heard Spike grunt in pain as he tried to get off the couch and he shut the door over the sound of swearing.

As he climbed the stairs back out of the basement, he had the sudden feeling of pity for the vampire. But before the thought could take up more substantial space in his brain, he reminded himself that Spike was a big boy now. He could handle himself. Besides, he had already done more than necessary to help the vampire back to the rat hole he called an apartment. No self respecting Menchoran would have been seen with such a creature and Maach was taking a risk just speaking to the vampire. Spike was Maach's friend, but he tried not to let anyone else know it. It was a mutually secret arrangement, hidden by a few chosen curse words and well set boundaries.

Spike didn't invade Maach's life and Maach did his best not to invade Spike's. Even if that meant leaving the bruised and ego-beaten demon to his own devises. Even if that meant pretending he didn't care.

"I'm fine." Spike said, slamming the cabinet door above the sink. Any harder and he would have splintered the wood.

"You did not appear fine in that bar three nights ago. It seemed to me—"

"I'm not askin' what it seemed like to you, Maach. Just leave it, alright?" he growled, opening the fridge and taking out a package of blood. It was then that Maach saw Spike get very twitchy. He had never seen a vampire so on edge before. It was like a switch had been flipped inside him and all of a sudden, his senses were on high alert. Spike awkwardly skated the blood package across the counter for a moment before weighing it in his hand and finally tossing it back into the fridge. He left the mug on the counter and tapped it lightly with his finger. He still had his back turned.

That was when Maach finally realized the cause of Spike's distress.

"You do not need to hide anything from me." Maach said softly, watching Spike's back flinch at the words.

"Not hidin'."

"Then why are you not feeding?" Maach asked bluntly, standing and coming up beside his friend. He saw the lines on Spike's face crease his brow and turn his nose into a line of furrows. There was a black bruise running from his left eye, across the bridge of his nose and down to end at a cut on his cheek. Somehow, it wasn't the bruising that made him look so broken.

"Do as I please." he muttered, clenching his hand open and closed onto the surface of the counter.

"You do not frighten—"

Spike turned sharply to face Maach, anger radiating from his face. "Get out."

Maach stood for a moment, transfixed by the look of pure hatred on the vampire's face.

He shook his head and marched toward the door, the resounding 'slam' sounding very loud to his own ears.

_Continued..._


	3. Aucune Bagarre

Chapter Three

_'Aucune Bagarre'_

"_Well, you don't scare me." Dawn said, hands on her little hips. Spike narrowed his eyes and took a drag on his cigarette. She leaned back a little more on the porch railing and looked out onto the lawn._

"_I mean, you used to. Before you got that chip in your head." she said matter-of-factly. _

"_S'at right?" he asked softly, his head turned away from her. The back porch was suddenly getting very small to him. He never thought he'd see the day when Dawn Summer's made him feel weaker than a kitten. He always imagined it would be Buffy._

"_Well, yea. You were a real scary then. I mean now you're just a—"_

_Spike shot up from the porch step, throwing his cigarette out into the damp, dark lawn. Dawn stopped talking and watched as he slammed the back door behind him._

"—_a friend."_

----------

Usually he didn't drink for the taste, but tonight he wanted to burn the sensation right out of his mouth. He woke up with the taste of ashes coating his tongue and he couldn't seem to make it go away, no matter what he tried. Some part of him figured it would always be like that; always wake up tasting the last minutes of, what you thought of as, your life.

He took another swig, swirling the bitter liquid around in his mouth. The ashy taste slowly ebbed away and he was left with the after burn of a few Jack Daniels and a Miller chaser. He gave an inward sigh of relief when all he could taste was liquor.

"Thought I told you not to come back here, Spike." a deep voice thundered behind him. Spike just sighed and closed his eyes. He didn't try to make a break for the door, or turn around and make excuses. After all, he did come back to the bar on his own accord. No one told him to or made him. He just did.

"Don't tell me you're looking for a fight, vampire." the voice prodded. Spike felt the back of his neck tingle with anticipation. Why wasn't he moving? Why the hell wasn't he getting up and tossing the overgrown pit bull out the door?

"Can't say as I am, mate." he said, running his finger over the rim of his glass idly.

The brute gave a deep snort and reached out to grab Spike by the back of his coat. Spike ducked low, knocking the beer off the counter and coming up under the demon to deliver a blow to his chest.

"Don't mind one, though." he said with a smirk. Yeah, that's all he needed; a good fight to bring him out of his funk. Get his rocks off, knock some teeth in.

His head was slammed back onto the bar counter. _Or get ma own knocked in…_ he thought as the demon reared back and delivered a blow to his collarbone. He ducked the second, clumsy punch, but only to be intercepted by the brute's band of lackeys. Just as he was about to take a knee into his already broken nose, there was a blinding flash of light. It smacked him full-force in the face and sent him stumbling back onto his ass. The room went white and fuzzy for a few minutes and then cleared into a hazy grey.

"Permettez à vos yeux d'être pour toujours fermés. Seulement pour s'ouvrir quand vous marchez dans la lumière."

Someone was mumbling something close to his ear. He tried to blink away the fuzzy darkness before him, but the more he blinked the more the blackness sharpened.

"Permettez à vos yeux d'être pour toujours fermés. Seulement pour s'ouvrir quand vous marchez dans la lumière." the voice repeated, closer to his ear. He tried again, desperately, to find out who was speaking to him, but his efforts were in vain.

Quickly, he tried to stumble to his feet, but found it hard to recognize where the ground was. He tried again, but fell over onto his back. He could feel the floor beneath his fingers and the hot breath of the demons on his face, but he couldn't see any of it.

"Aucune vue." the voice whispered again. Spike flinched at the sound and tried to scrabble away. He found that that was hard to do with a pair of massive hands pinning you to the ground.

"Enjoy your time in the dark, vampire." the brute hissed into his ear. Spike tried to move again, but the pressure increased.

Suddenly, the words came to him. Aucune vue. No light.

He was blind.

_Continued..._


End file.
